Movie Review: Enter The Void

• Save

Enter the Void is a 2009 drama film produced by Fidelity Films and directed by Gaspar Noe. It first premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The film stars Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta and Cyril Roy. The film revolves around the character Oscar, played by Nathaniel Brown who is a drug dealer living in Tokyo. The other main characters in the movie include Linda, played by Paz de la Huerta and Alex, played by Cyril Roy. Linda is Oscar’s sister, and Alex is his close friend who wants him to leave his life of crime. Victor, played by Olly Alexander, is another friend who also deals in drugs. The film’s uniqueness lies in the fact that it gives the audience first-person experience of Oscar’s spirit after he dies. Enter The Void provides a kind of experience that is worth enjoying, as it provides an entirely different movie perspective.

Oscar’s Death

It is one of those rare movies where the protagonist ends up being dead at the beginning of the story. The film gets its name from the bar where the drug deal takes place, and Oscar gets shot and killed. Oscar walks into ‘The Void’ bar to meet Victor but is surrounded by police. In the ensuing hustle, the police shoot and kill Oscar. It may seem like the movie has come to an abrupt end at the very beginning, but it is not so. When Oscar’s spirit rises from his body and begins viewing his life in an almost chronological order, the viewer gets an entirely new perspective. It brings to life the stories of life after death and the reincarnation.

Oscar’s Past

From the moment he dies, and his spirit appears above the scene, we take through a storyline of his past.

It is like Oscar’s mind is remembering his past. It shows us how his parents died in a car crash, how Oscar and Linda were sent to foster homes separately, how Oscar came to Tokyo and got into the drug business, and how he earned enough to bring Linda to Tokyo.

Oscar’s Post Death Experience

You rarely come across movies that give you a glimpse of the other side of the death. ‘Enter the Void,’ the very name of the film tells you where it will take you – in the ‘void’ that lies after death.

Oscar’s spirit floats over the city and looks at the lives of people who were in his life. He could even enter anyone’s head to experience what they are going through it. When he enters Linda’s head, he begins her dream. He finds himself waking up in the morgue in the dream.

Why Victor Betrayed Oscar?

After Oscar’s death, it reveals that Victor gave him away to the police to avenge Oscar sleeping with his mother. When his mother finds this out, she throws him out of her house. When he approaches Linda to apologize, she tells him that he should just die for betraying his friend.

Oscar’s spirit takes him through many flashbacks from the past. Eventually, he finds himself being born again to his mother. The viewer is left confused whether it is the flashback or Oscar is reborn as a form of reincarnation.

What Makes Enter the Void Peculiar?

Emptiness considers as the central theme of ‘Enter the Void.’ The film has its loose inspiration from the book The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Similar to the book, the movie’s story also culminates in the spirit searching for a way to achieve reincarnation. In the end, we left with a perplexing thought – whether Oscar reincarnates as the child of his sister and Alex or whether the flashback of being born is only part of his memory.

The Truth

According to the film’s director, ‘Enter the Void’ has no correlation with religious beliefs. The movie takes you through the dream of a person who has heard about this unique book and died after learning about the concept. Oscar is that person and his friend Alex told him about the book before Oscar’s death.

Eventually, in a post-release interview, the director revealed that Oscar doesn’t die in the film. There is no death, spirit, and reincarnation. The entire story after Oscar’s so-called death is nothing more than his dream. He already stones when he shots by the police. He then enters a dream which takes him through the traumatic experiences of his life.

Enter the Void is a fascinating and gripping movie. The hardships faced by Oscar and how he overcomes them have sidelined, and the focus has been on his overall after-life-like experience. It takes you away from reality into a world of its own and will keep you thinking as to what life is and whether spirits exist.

Written by one of movie review experts from AdvancedWriters.com, movie review writing service.